Comte d'Estaing

Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing (24 November 1729-28 April 1794) was an Admiral of the Kingdom of France who fought in the War of the Austrian Succession, Seven Years' War, and the American Revolutionary War. He was executed during the Reign of Terror.

Biography
Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was born on 24 November 1729 in Chateau du Ravel, Auvergne, in the Kingdom of France. He was a colonel during the War of the Austrian Succession and fought at the siege of Maastricht in 1748, and during the Seven Years' War, he was given the Order of Saint Louis and fought in the Third Carnatic War against Great Britain in India. In 1762, he became a Rear-Admiral in the French Navy and took part in an expedition against Portugal, leaving his post of Lieutenant-General in the French Army.

From 1764 to 1766, he was Governor of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. In 1777 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral, and at the start of France's role in the American Revolutionary War in 1778, he took charge of a French fleet sent to reinforce the American colonists. He blockaded Lord Richard Howe's smaller British fleet off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, at the entrance to New York Harbor. On 29 August 1778 he came to the assistance of John Sullivan's American forces during the Battle of Rhode Island. He later withdrew due to a strong storm, and the Comte d'Estaing received a scathing letter from Sullivan blaming the French for the British victory. The Assassin Order persuaded Hector to ignore the letter, so the Franco-American alliance remained intact. In 1779, he launched a fruitless bombardment against the British fort of Savannah in Georgia, and was wounded twice. Having failed again, he returned to France in crutches in 1780 and Benjamin Franklin jokingly suggested that the French court at Versailles provide the United States with the names of other gifted French admirals.

In 1787, he was elected to the Assembly of Notables. In 1792 he became a member of the National Assembly of the new French Republic and wanted national reform, but he was still loyal to King Louis XVI of France. In 1793 he bore testimony in Queen Marie-Antoinette of France's favor during the trial of the royal couple, and on 28 April 1794 he was executed by guillotine for exchange of letters with the Queen and being a reactionary.